March 1986

"The Devil has come to America." Eddie read aloud from the magazine in his hands. "Dungeons and Dragons. At first regarded as a harmless game of make-believe now has both parents and psychologists concerned. Studies have linked violent behavior go the game, saying it promotes satanic worship, ritual sacrifice, sodomy, suicide, and even... murder."

The group of five laughed at the absurdity. Emily let out a snort with her laugh, snatching one of the pretzels off of Eddie's tray. He flicked her ear in response, yet she paid it no mind. She spotted Mike and Dustin across the room, smirking.

"Society has to blame something. We're easy targets." Ryan said next to Emily.

"Exactly. We're the freaks because, what, we like to play a fantasy game? But..." Eddie stood up onto the table. "As long as you're into band, or science, or parties, or a game where you toss balls into laundry baskets!"

"You want something, freak?" Star basketball player Jason Carver asked Eddie. He just replied by making a face and gross noises. Jason grimaced and sat down.

"It's forced conformity. That's what's killing the kids!" Eddie shouted at a few girls as he ran back down the table. "That's the real monster. Not us and our game, no way in hell."

"And you see even fewer girls in the game. It's one big boys club." Emily snorted.

"For the last time, get your nasty ass feet off the table, we're eating here." Eddie said, shoving her mud covered boots off the edge.

"Why are you so bothered, Eddie, you eat shit every other day." Emily shot back, making a show of putting her boots back up. The others let out laughs and 'ooos' as Eddie sighed.

"Sometimes I even wonder why I let you in." He said, flicking her shoulder.

"Because I'm a freak just as you all are. You think it's easy walking around like I'm a maskless Phantom of the Opera?"

"Please, you hide in the woods all day, I rarely ever see you in town, and even then you're usually ambling down Morehead."

"And yet I still show up here in the end, diving ass first into public high school. That's scarier than any campaign you could cook up." Emily turned up her chin as if that ended the arguement. Eddie sighed.

"What do you want, a medal? You show up here for a couple days every few weeks and then you screw off again. I mean, where do you go all the time?" He said, gesturing broadly.

"Around."

"Does 'around' include a booty call?" Jeff asked. Another chorus of 'ooos' rang out, Emily's face turning pink with anger.

"I get more action than all you losers combined." She snapped.

"Doubtful, considering he doesn't exist." Eddie said, emphasizing his words.

"He goes. To another school." Emily said, getting right into Eddie's face and punctuating her words.

"What's it called?"

"What are you, a cop?"

"I can be if you don't tell me."

"My personal life is none of your business. Besides, you do too many drugs to be a cop. How do you get those, anyway?"

"You're deflecting, you just don't wanna admit that you've been lying."

"Why would I keep up the lie for this long?"

"Because you live a sad, pathetic life, unable to graduate from high school. So you craft this boyfriend in your head to help you cope with your own inadequacy."

"How many times have you repeated, Munson?"

"Less than you, I know that much. And I'm closer to graduating than you are."

"I can make sure you don't. I'll rip your fucking entrails out and spread them on your front lawn like Halloween decorations."

"You kiss your boyfriend with that mouth? I mean, supposedly."

"Yes, among other things."

"Okay, no, stop, gross, don't wanna hear it." Eddie stuck his tongue out in disgust.

"Well, apparently I'd need to write a damn erotic novella to convince you of Peter's existence, so I might as well start now."

"Sure, go for it, I'll get you a pen and paper."

"You'd be better off shoving it up your--"

The fluorescent light above their table flickered and then gave out with a spark. Emily didn't seem fazed, she just sighed and sat back.

"This place gets shittier every year." She scoffed.

"Yeah, you'd know." Eddie snorted. Emily responded by palming Eddie in the face. He grabbed his nose, but didn't say anything about it. "If only you could save that energy for tonight's campaign."

"Uh, actually..." Dustin spoke up. All eyes were focused on him. "About the campaign... uh... Lucas has to do his, ah... 'balls in laundry baskets' game so... he's not gonna make it to Hellfire tonight. And I know there's no way we can beat your sadistic campaign without him, so me and Mike, we were talking, shooting the shit, and we were thinking that maybe we might..."

"Postpone?" Mike finished. Immediately there was a chorus of protests.

"You can't just drop this on us!" Gareth argued.

"Over my dead body." Ryan snorted.

"Shut up!" Eddie yelled. "You saying Sinclair's been taken in by the dark side?"

"Uh, something like that?" Mike said.

"Figures." Emily muttered.

"'Something like that?'" Eddie echoed, throwing a pretzel at Mike. "And rather than find a sub for him, you want... you want to postpone The Cult of Vecna?"

"I-I don't want to postpone it. We don't want to postpone it, it's just that, you know, most of the subs will be at the championship game."

"Oh, it's the championship game?" Eddie asked with heavy sarcasm as he stood up.

"Yeah?"

"Can I level with you? Jeff graduates this year. Gareth's got, what, a year and a half? Emily... well, I take that back, you're stuck with her--"

"Bite me, Munson."

"Me, I am army crawling my way to a D in Ms. O'Donnell's. If I don't blow her final, I'm gonna walk that stage next month, I'm gonna look Principal Higgins dead in the eye, I'm ginna flip him the bird, I'm gonna snatch that diploma, and I'm gonna run like hell outta here."

"Didn't you say that last year?" Jeff asked.

"And the year before?" Gareth added.

"Please, we'd be here a while if we listed all of Eddie's failures in life." Emily snorted. Eddie flipped her off before continuing.

"Yeah, and I was full of shit. This year's different. This year is my year. I can feel it. '86, baby! You know what that means?It means you boys are the future of Hellfire. I knew it the moment I saw you. You sat on that table right over there, looking like... looking like two little lost sheep." Eddie looked at Dustin. "You were wearing a Weird Al T-shirt. I thought that was brave."

"Thank you." Dustin whispered.

"Mike, you were wearing whatever shit your mommy bought you trom the goddamn Gap." Eddie said, earning laughs as he pulled the two boys up out of their seats. "And we showed you that school didn't have to be the worst years of your lives, right?"

"No." Dustin and Mike replied, nervous.

"Well, I'm here to tell you that there are other little lost sheepies out there who need help. Who need you. And all you guys gotta do is get your Bo Peeps on and go and find one."

Eddie shoved the boys away, waving them off before they even had a chance to protest. Eddie sat back down, Emily snorting.

"Fool's errand." She said.

"We'll see." Eddie replied.

***

"Do you maybe have anything... stronger?" Emily peered out from around a tree, nearly rolling at what she was witnessing despite knowing why it was happening. Chrissy Cunningham, the proverbial Queen of Hawkins High, seeking out Eddie for drugs. Emily knew full well why Chrissy was seeking out such a deal. She was in that very literal neck of the woods for a reason, both following the star cheerleader and leading her with a trail of breadcrumbs.

Clocks don't just appear in trees.

"I'll take you home after the game." Eddie said. "I have a thing at the school tonight anyways, so just find my van and I'll get you the good stuff."

Chrissy nodded, squeaking out a thank you before grabbing her bag and walking back to the school. Eddie watched her go, an expression on his face Emily could read all too well.

"Well, well. Chrissy Cunningham, hmm? Never would have expected that one." Emily said, stalking out from behind a tree with her hands behind her back. Her face was in a condescending smile, looking down at Eddie sat on the bench.

"You're gonna give me a heart attack one day, you know that?" He said, making a show of clutching his chest. "What are you even doing here?"

"Well, if I see my best friend executing a drug deal, I'm curious. Especially if Chrissy is your buyer. Queen of Hawkins High coming to The Freak for drugs." Emily reached into Eddie's lunchbox and pulled out a small packet of weed. "You know this shit's bad for you, right? Besides, it reeks."

"Please, I doubt you're clean. You've gotta be on something. What is it?" Eddie asked. Emily sat down across from Eddie and rested her head on her hands propped up by her elbows.

"Oxytocin." She said with a smirk. Eddie sighed.

"I can't even get mad at that." He said. "You're really never gonna let this fantasy go, are you?"

"You've seen some of the shit that's happened in this town over the years. Me seeing someone is one of the more plausible things, don't you think? I think you just don't wanna admit that I'm better than you." Emily looked past Eddie's shoulder. "'Course if you somehow landed Chrissy Cunningham then I'd have to pass over that title. I wouldn't bet on it, though."

"What makes you say that?" Eddie asked.

"Eddie, please. Look at Chrissy, then look at yourself in the mirror." Emily clicked her tongue once or twice. "I mean, it would be nice to see you with someone. Give your hand a break."

"Hey--"

"But she's dating Jason Carver and has a reputation to maintain. Jason's a massive douche, though, so I'd bump your odds up a few points. If only you had a higher Charisma stat..."

"I'm not allowed to pry into your love life, yet you can play matchmaker with me?" Eddie said, folding his arms. Emily shrugged.

"I'm your best friend, it's my job to thoroughly bash and break your hopes and dreams against the roof of your trailer." Emily leaned in closer. "But I wouldn't get too attached to Chrissy."

"Why not?"

"Your paths may have crossed today, but you'll reach a crossroads again eventually. She's going down a different path than you are, one you likely won't be able to follow her down."

"That's oddly poetic coming from someone who probably has a hard time getting through 'Goodnight Moon.'"

"Believe me, I've read through 'Goodnight Moon' more times than you've smoked a blunt." Emily smirked to herself, rubbing the inside of her left wrist. She sighed, looking around. "Do you think Wheeler and Henderson are gonna be able to find a stand in?"

"With the shit the magazines are pushing? No way in hell. We're probably just gonna have to handle this one ourselves. I mean, I would postpone, but..."

"Nope, no way in hell. I'm dipping again after tonight and you can't afford to not have me there, either. Besides, the guys would never forgive you."

"Yeah, I know."

"Listen, Sinclair's had one foot out the door since he went to the first tryout. Either way, I feel like we can handle it. With a lot of luck, sure, but still. You can count on Lady Airetos the Remorseless being there tonight."

"I'd hardly call you a lady by any stretch, but I'm glad to hear it." Eddie closed his lunchbox and stood up. "See you tonight, I suppose."

Emily just gave a simple wave as Eddie began the walk back to the school. She pursed her lips into a thin smile and sighed. From the corner of her eye, she spotted a small black widow crawling along the edge of the table. Her usual instinct would be to get up and run, but Emily was trying her hardest to overcome that instinct and get comfortable with the little creatures. Even after seven years, it was hard.

She gently slid her arm out close to it. It crawled up her extended pointer finger, sitting right on her knuckle like a bird perching. She brought it close to her face, observing it closely.

"Bulimia. Hardly the most severe, but if it works..." Emily said softly. She felt the faintest tickle on her cheek as though someone was stroking it with their finger. She smiled. "I'll be back later tonight. After that, we need only wait."

The spider just sat on her finger. They never gave replies, they were just messengers. Emily set her hand back down so the spider could crawl away back across the table. She blinked and suddenly it was gone.

In the distance, she heard the schoolbell ring to indicate the end of the day. Eddie usually expected her to help set up the table, a process that he made more complicated than it needed to be. Emily swung her legs over the seat of the bench, staring down a particular length of trees that led further into the woods.

"Tick tock, m'love. Tick tock." She whispered before standing up and running back to the school.

***

To be honest, Emily had agreed with Eddie. No way in hell could they find a suitable stand in for Lucas for the campaign. Yet there she sat to Eddie's left, colored surprised when Mike and Dustin walked in with a stand in. She just hadn't expected it to be...

"Absolutely not." Eddie said firmly, a smile on his face born of sheer absurdity.

"You asked for a sub. We delivered." Dustin said.

"This is Hellfire Club. Not Babysitting Club."

"I'm eleven, you long-haired freak." Erica Sinclair bit back.

"Well, well... the child speaks." Emily said. Eddie stood up out of his chair to approach Erica. "So, what's your name, child?"

"Erica Sinclair."

"So, this is Sinclair's infamous sister."

Erica rolled her eyes.

"He's sharp." She said sarcastically. Emily gave out a loud laugh. Eddie shot her a look, but she just sneered and kept laughing.

"What's your class and level? Level one dwarf?" Jeff, Gareth, and Ryan chortled, Emily barely suppressing a laugh as well.

"My name is Lady Applejack, and I'm a chaotic good half-elf rogue, level 14. I will sneak behind any monster you throw my way and stab them in the back with my poison-soaked kukri. And I'll smile as I watch them die a slow, agonizing death. So, are we gonna do this? Or are we just gonna keep chit-chatting like this is your mommy's book club?"

The entire room fell silent, everyone staring at Erica with open mouths. Emily was the first to break, absolutely cackling.

"She sure showed you, Munson!" She laughed, her chair almost tipping backwards. "For god's sake, get the girl a chair."

Eddie rolled his eyes before turning back to Erica. The girl raised an eyebrow, Eddie returning it with an impressed smile.

"Welcome to Hellfire." He said, offering her a hand. Erica gave a satisfied smirk as she shook it.

***

"The hooded cultists chant. 'Hail Lord Vecna. Hail Lord Vecna.' They turn to you, remove their hoods. You recognize most of them from Makbar, but there is one you do not recognize. His skin shriveled, desicated. And something else. Not only is he missing his left arm... but his left eye!" Eddie mimed what he was describing as the group let out curses and angered cries.

"Vecna's dead!" Gareth cried.

"He waw killed by Kas!" Mike agreed.

"So it was thought, my friends, so it was thought." Eddie said, reaching for a metal figurine to plant on the small throne. "But Vecna lives! You are scared, you're tired, you are injured. Do you flee Vecna and his cultists? Or do you stand your ground and fight?"

Everyone sat in contemplative silence for a moment, considering their next move.

"I say we fight." Dustin offered. "To the death."

"To the death." Mike agreed.

"To the death." Erica joined in. Everyone raised half empty sodas and blunt pencils with smiles, chanting 'to the death.' Eddie laughed as he sat back down.

For too many tense minutes, dice rolled and the group either let out cheers or defeated cries. For every hit, there was a miss. Then it began to happen.

Ryan rolled. He missed and was knocked out.

Mike rolled. He missed and was knocked out.

Gareth rolled. He missed and was knocked out.

Emily took a risk and rolled. Her piece was moved, now captured. She feigned misery, but considering her alignment, she spouted it off with a smile. Since the game board was on the table, she instead propped her feet on the armrest of the throne Eddie sat upon.

Jeff rolled. He missed and was knocked out.

"Time out! Time out!" Ryan cried. Everyone sans Emily got out of their chairs and huddled on the opposite end of the room. Emily and Eddie listened in carefully.

"Guys, I hate to say this, but we've got to flee." Jeff proposed.

"I concur." Ryan agreed.

"Didn't we just agree 'to the death?'" Erica asked.

"That wasn't literal!" Jeff hissed.

"Vecna just decimated us. We can't kill him with just two players." Gareth said.

"You too?" Dustin asked. "He only has 15 hit points left. Don't be pussies."

"Pussies? Really? 'Cause we're not delusional?" Jeff asked incredulously.

"Delusional? How about not cowards?" Erica replied.

"I don't know guys, it's only 15, you might be able to pull it off." Emily said, giving an elaborate shrug.

"Airetos the Ruthless is captured and corrupted, you can't say shit." Gareth spat at her. Emily lightly tossed up her hands and looked at Eddie. He chuckled before standing up.

"Hey! If I may interject, gentlemen, Lady Applejack, Lady Airetos. Whilst I respect the passion, you'd be wise to take Gareth the Great's concern to heart. There is no shame in running. Don't try to be heroes. Not today, 'kay?"

"One sec." Dustin said before they all huddled again. "What do you think, Mike?"

"How many hit points do you and Lady Applejack have left?" Mike asked.

"Twelve." Dustin and Erica replied together.

"It's risky as hell, but you're the ones on the battlefield. So it's your call."

"What do you say, Lady Applejack?" Dustin asked.

"You really gotta ask?" Erica asked. Dustin paused before sighing.

"Screw it." He decided, turning back to Eddie. "Let's kill the son of a bitch."

"The chances of success are 20-to-1." Gareth protested.

"Never tell me the odds." Dustin said, holding up a finger to silence his companion. He held out his other hand. "Give me the D20."

Eddie smiled, tossing the dice to Dustin. He caught it, encasing it in both of his hands while shaking it. Dustin let go, the dice bouncing across the board. It came to a stop, reading 11.

"That's a miss!!" Eddie snarled with a smile.

"Shit!" Everyone cried, Dustin knocking his piece off the board. Emily laughed, clapping her hands in delight. Everyone turned to Erica with nervous expressions as she grabbed the D20. She clasped it between her hands and began to shake it.

She released it as everyone held their breaths. It rolled across the board, bouncing once or twice. Everyone looked at the dice in anticipation, waiting to see what it said. It landed right by the throne.

20.

"Crit hit!" Erica cried as everyone jumped up and down with a cheer.

"What? What?" Eddie said, making small jumpy movements. Emily stood up, applauding Erica as she stood proud while her group-mates celebrated behind her. Eddie smiled, offering her a small bow of respect.

"That's why we play." He said. The entire group ran out of the room, down the halls and outside the double doors leading outside. They jumped all over each other, hardly noticing the larger lively crowd outside.

Emily helped Eddie clean the board up before he bid her adieu for the night. And, incidentally, adieu for the next unknown period of time that she would vanish once again for. Emily watched him leave the room, seated upon his Dungeon Master throne with her feet up on the table. She sat and waited for a minute or five, hearing the faint sounds of celebration outside slowly die down.

Only once she saw a single black widow crawl along the armrest of the chair she had sat in earlier did she grab her jacket and leave.

The parking lot of the school was mostly deserted by that point. Emily spotted Chrissy nearby, her hands in her jacket pockets by the wall. Eddie appeared, gesturing for her to follow him to his van. She obliged, the pair making light conversation as they went. As the van drove away, Emily began the walk in the direction of the trailer Eddie lived in.

It was a quiet, cloudless night that night. Everything was almost silent save for the occasional car driving down Cornwallis and the crickets chirping. Normally it would be dangerous for a woman to walk down the street at night, but Emily knew full well that if anyone dared try to attack her, the police would find a broken body in the nearest ditch that next morning.

In fact, part of her almost wanted it to happen.

Emily started humming when she spotted the Forest Hills sign at the entrance to the trailer park. She knew no one was gonna mistake her for Ella Fitzgerald by any stretch, but she wasn't humming for the outside world. She hummed for herself.

The lights in Eddie's trailer started flickering when Emily was a few yards away. She kept humming as she walked closer. By the time she was flanking the side of the trailer, she heard a loud bang followed by screams that sounded like Eddie's.

Three seconds passed and it fell eerily silent.

Eddie burst out of the trailer, running to his van and driving away with panicked yelps and swears. Emily waited until the van was far enough away before she slipped inside the trailer.

Right there on the floor lay the broken corpse of Chrissy Cunningham. Her arms and legs were twisted, broken at the most horrific angles. Her jaw was broken, holding her mouth in a permanent scream. Lastly, her eyes were missing, basically gouged out with tears of blood running down her face. Emily crouched down with an almost pittying smile. She wiped her thumb across Chrissy's face, streaking the blood under her left eye with it. Emily examined it for a moment before wiping it off on Chrissy's jacket.

"I told you not to get attatched, Eddie." Emily mused, standing back up and dusting her knees off. "Three to go..."

Knowing better than to leave through the front door, Emily extended a hand and shattered a back window leading out into the woods. She let the glass fall onto Chrissy's body before Emily climbed out the window. She wiped the blood from her nose as she disappeared into the woods. They were dark, but she knew her way around them. It was a straight path through until she spotted the familiar decaying, rusted metal in the shape of a rocket ship.

Shrugging, Emily grabbed ahold of the metal bars and slid inside the structure, encasing herself inside. It was meant for children, so Emily had to curl herself practically into a ball to fit inside. Sometimes Emily would wonder if Alice's soul were free to roam around, would she stay by the play structure?

If Emily were even remotely bothered by sitting inside a favorite plaything of a dead little girl, she didn't show it. She wasn't bothered, to be clear. As far as Emily was aware, Alice had been a piece of work like no other. Like most everyone she encountered, Emily felt no sympathy towards her or her fate.

In a few months, she would have turned 41 had she lived.

Through the bars, Emily observed the decaying house across the road. In the dark it looked much eerier, but she didn't see it as such. It's boarded up windows, peeling paint, and overgrown plants currently dead just spelt out home for her. No one but herself had gone inside for almost exactly 27 years.

Emily let out a sigh as she uncurled herself and slid down the small metal slide to hit solid ground. She stretched and set her sights on the house, walking towards it. Emily only ever opened up gates to cross over inside of it.

The 'other side' felt more like home at this point.